Following Tun Dr Mahathir’s blog post this week criticising Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s handling of the Federal Government and pulling his support for Najib’s administration, senior UMNO leaders have come forward admonishing Mahathir and asking the country’s longest-serving premier to basically cut his successor some slack.
Home Minister and UMNO vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that although Mahathir had a right to his opinion, Najib deserved to be given deference as an elected leader.
“A leader chosen by the people must be respected by all, including former leaders,” Zahid said yesterday, as quoted by The Malaysian Insider.
“A leader has his own era and this makes him a leader at that period of time. Najib’s era is suitable for Najib.
“When Dr Mahathir was prime minister, he demanded loyalty from everybody. I am sure Najib also expects the same from everybody.”
Fellow UMNO vice-president and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein also asked Mahathir to back down from his attacks on the PM, citing Najib’s performance during the recent Flight MH17 tragedy as proof of his ability to lead the nation.
“If Najib did not take the brave stand of facing the separatists, I may not be standing here today to organise the arrival of the corpses (of Malaysians),” he said, in reference to Najib’s decision to enter into discussions with pro-Russian separatist rebels in control of the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, where Flight MH17 was shot down.
Hishamuddin said Mahathir’s criticism was only his personal opinion, but still expressed respect for the former PM’s views.
“But at the same time, I do not want to belittle Dr Mahathir’s views as he has always had his own stand and views.”
UMNO secretary-general and Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor likewise urged Mahathir to give the Najib administration an opportunity to act on the criticisms stated in this week’s blog post, and that changes take time.
Adnan also expressed the willingness of himself and other UMNO ministers to meet with Mahathir to hear his concerns on current governmental policy, and hoped that Mahathir, as an UMNO member himself, would not criticise the ruling government so openly.
“I know what whatever criticism Dr Mahathir made is because he loves Malaysia. But I hope that he would not do it publicly.
“We can discuss and solve this among ourselves. What is important is, do not put Umno and Tun Dr Mahathir at odds,” he said.
In his blog post, the highly influential former PM who administered the country for a record 22 years pulled back his support for the Najib federal government, citing numerous policies and perceived mistakes made by Najib since his ascension to the top job in 2009, including Barisan Nasional’s poor performance in the 13th General Elections last year, his appeasement of the political opposition and foreign powers, and the disenfranchisement of the Malay people who form Najib and ruling party UMNO’s power base.
Mahathir added yesterday that leaders would only realise their mistakes and quickly rectify them when there are those who stand up to criticise them.
Despite perceived hints in the blog post that he thought Najib should resign, Mahathir insisted that he did not mean to pressure the PM to step down.
